Wired and wireless communication between computing devices has enjoyed wide adoption and significant growth as a flexible and cost-effective infrastructure has become available. For example, gigabit Ethernet and wireless technology such as WiFi (a common name for several related standards proposed by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, “IEEE”), Bluetooth, infrared coded data, etc. permit data transfer via wireless signals or fast wired data pathways. Unfortunately, while new standards and improved equipment have increased network data rates, the technology continues to have issues that have not been satisfactorily addressed, such as easily and securely introducing devices, and once introduced, configuring devices and establishing trust (as needed) between the devices.
In addition to configuration difficulty for devices introduced into an environment, another problem is bandwidth management or allocation, which may be an issue when, as often happens, multiple devices in an environment are engaging in a common task with devices outside the environment. An example would be multiple devices engaging in a data download, peer-to-peer data transfer, conferencing or telephony communication session, etc. Another issue is establishing trust and identity between various devices, such as conference participants. Yet another issue is determining a proper scope of rights in the environment for visiting devices.